Hield's tip-in gives No. 15 Oklahoma win over No. 9 Kansas

Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield, center, tips in the game winning basket in front of Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr., left, guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) and guard Frank Mason III, right, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Norman, Okla.,

Sue Ogrocki

March 07, 2015

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Buddy Hield struggled the entire game, then made up for it all with one spectacular play.

His tip-in with 0.2 seconds left gave No. 15 Oklahoma a 75-73 victory over No. 9 Kansas on Saturday. Hield got up high above the rim and got both hands on Jordan Woodard's missed layup.

''Coach (Lon Kruger) always said the second shot will be the one to kill you,'' Hield said. ''I know the second shot was going to kill them (Kansas). I'm always going to the glass, every time. It's a habit I have. It's paid off a lot for me.''

The play went almost as planned.

''We wanted to get it to Jordan and set a ball screen for him at midcourt and let him get to the paint,'' Kruger said. ''He did a great job of getting to the rim, and that kind of triggered the opportunity. Buddy did a really good job to finish.''

Hield made just 6 of 20 shots, but he finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to help the Sooners (21-9, 12-6 Big 12) clinch at least a tie for second in the conference. Isaiah Cousins added 16 points, TaShawn Thomas had 13, and Ryan Spangler finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma.

Kansas scoring leader Perry Ellis sat out after spraining his right knee against West Virginia on Tuesday night. A Kansas spokesman said Brannen Greene was suspended for irresponsible behavior, and forward Cliff Alexander didn't make the trip because of an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Frank Mason III tied a season high with 21 points for Kansas (24-7, 13-5). Landen Lucas had career highs of 13 points and 12 rebounds and Kelly Oubre Jr., added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks.

Kansas coach Bill Self was proud of the way his short-handed team played.

''That was a good effort by us,'' he said. ''There was no one out there laying down. We just got beat.''

Kansas had already clinched the conference's regular-season title. Self said the Jayhawks were still motivated.

''I talked to the guys about this being a statement game,'' he said. ''You won the league. Now, go out and put some separation between us and the second-place team.''

Oklahoma led 71-68 and had the ball in the final minute when Hield lost control. Kansas corralled the ball and called timeout with 14.9 seconds remaining. The Sooners fouled Mason with 9.4 seconds remaining, and he made both free throws to make it 71-70.

Woodard was fouled with 7.4 seconds to play, and he made both free throws to push Oklahoma's advantage to 73-70.

Mason was fouled on a 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds remaining. He made all three free throws to tie it at 73 and set up the dramatic finish.

Oklahoma started off hot. Frank Booker hit two 3-pointers to push Oklahoma's lead to 25-16 with about 6 minutes left in the first half, but Kansas rallied to cut it to 32-30 at halftime. Kansas stayed in the game with 15 second-chance points in the first half.

Cousins was fouled on a powerful two-handed jam, and his free throw gave the Sooners a 47-40 lead early in the second half.

A jump hook by Lucas gave Kansas a 55-54 lead, and the game was tight from there.

Oklahoma was glad to finally win a game in the final seconds after losing games to Washington and Kansas State in similar fashion earlier in the season.

''I feel like it's our time now, you know what I mean?'' Hield said. ''Everything bad has been happening to us, so it's our time. It's us making the plays. It's good. It's March. It's fun. It gets us ready for the next one.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks had 14 offensive rebounds in the first half and two in the second. ... F Hunter Mickelson played a season-high 20 minutes and had five points and six rebounds. ... G Wayne Selden Jr., who started despite nursing a right ankle sprain, did not score and missed all seven of his shots. ... F Jamari Traylor fouled out with 45.1 seconds remaining. He finished with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

''Me and Ryan (Spangler) spoke at halftime,'' Thomas said. ''We said, `We're better than this.' It picked up the mentality for the whole team. When we decided to say that, that's when everybody stepped up and started getting rebounds.''

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Hield, on what he did after the tip-in: ''I ran to the student section so I could tell them what's up with it.''

UP NEXT:

Kansas: Big 12 Tournament.

Oklahoma: Big 12 Tournament.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP .

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